CITY COUNCIL SUSTAINABILITY COMMITTEE MEETING
Remote Participation – Digital Zoom Meeting
November 8, 2021
4:30 p.m. – 6:19 p.m.
MEETING MINUTES
CALL TO ORDER: Meeting called to order at 4:30 p.m. by Mayor Halliday.
ROLL CALL:
Members:
Present:
Barbara Halliday, Mayor/CSC Chair
Francisco Zermeño, City Council Member
Elisa Márquez, City Council Member (joined the meeting at 4:40 p.m.) Staff:
Jennifer Ott, Assistant City Manager
Alex Ameri, Director of Public Works
Todd Rullman, Director of Maintenance Services
Erik Pearson, Environmental Services Manager
Kaitlyn Byrne, Acting Senior Management Analyst
Nicole Grucky, Sustainability Specialist
Colleen Kamai, Administrative Supervisior, Maintenance Services Cheryl Munoz, Water Resources Manager
Trang Nguyen, Management Analyst
Carolyn Weisman, Climate Corps Fellow
Linda Ko, Senior Secretary (Recorder)
Other:
Christopher Heppner, Supervising Hydrogeologist, EKI Environment & Water, Inc.
PUBLIC COMMENT*
Public comments related to items not on the agenda addressed at the end of the second agenda item.
Approval of Minutes of the Council Sustainability Committee (CSC) Meeting Held on September 13, 2021 The item was moved by Council Member Zermeño and seconded by Mayor Halliday. The minutes were approved with two votes.
Update on Illegal Dumping & Use of Surveillance Technologies Todd Rullman, Director of Maintenance Services, presented an informational update on the City’s use of surveillance technologies in efforts to decrease illegal dumping. In addition, he provided a status update on two targeted illegal dumping pilot projects that are planned to be implemented over the next six to nine months.
Council Member Márquez inquired if staff was seeking feedback on which pilot project to implement first. Director Rullman clarified that staff was planning to try both models and would monitor the response and feedback of the public.
Mayor Barbara Halliday asked for more information on the anonymous survey. Director Rullman explained the survey was a method to gain feedback from the public regarding what types of services would be most helpful and why. A possible method for the survey could be providing a link at the site that would direct the customer to fill out a survey to provide feedback.
Council Member Zermeño supported the two pilot programs and suggested trying them in the Jackson Triangle in the future. He also suggested that staff could reach out to StopWaste.org to possibly obtain a grant for still-motion cameras.
Council Member Márquez and Mayor Halliday expressed their support of staff’s comprehensive approach. Mayor Halliday commented on working with property realtors to promote the availability of disposal and pick-up services to members of the public who were moving.
Public Comment
There were no public comments related to this agenda item. *PUBLIC COMMENTS RELATED TO ITEMS NOT ON THE AGENDA
Director Rullman provided an update on the Tree Planting Goal. He announced that in the first quarter of fiscal year 2022 1,650 trees had already been planted, which far exceeded the current yearly goal of 1000 new trees.
Erik Pearson, Environmental Services Manager, provided an update on the tree removal at the intersection of Hesperian Boulevard and Highway 92. He stated that Caltrans explained that the Redwood trees were dying due to the drought and were removed from the Caltrans right-of-way as a safety measure.
East Bay Plain Subbasin Groundwater Sustainability Plan – Information and Discussion Cheryl Muñoz, Water Resources Manager, presented on the East Bay Plain Subbasin Groundwater Sustainability Plan (GSP) that the City of Hayward and East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD) must adopt and submit to the Department of Water Resources (DWR) by January 31, 2022. Staff requested that the Committee recommend the GSP to Council for review and approval.
Council Member Márquez asked staff which agency would be monitoring for compliance once the plan was adopted. Ms. Muñoz responded that the DWR would review and check for compliance as the plan was updated every five years. In the meantime, staff would be doing their own monitoring to make sure there was compliance to the regulations.
Council Member Márquez moved the item to recommend the report to Council, Council Member Zermeño seconded the motion, and the item was approved unanimously.
Public Comment
There were no public comments.
Hayward Water Bill Redesign – Selection of a Design Option Kait Byrne, Acting Senior Management Analyst, gave a presentation on the Hayward water bill redesign and provided the Committee with three bill design options for review, comment, and selection.
Mayor Halliday asked staff if the new Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) water customer portal would make online bill payments easier. Ms. Byrne assured the Committee that the online payment process would be a lot simpler and that customers would be able to customize alerts so that they could receive notifications about their accounts. This type of functionality would be helpful in detecting water leaks and alerting customers in a timely manner.
Mayor Halliday moved the motion to recommend the Option 3 bill design to Council, the motion was seconded by Council Member Márquez and the item was approved unanimously.
Public Comment
There were no public comments.
Proposed 2022 Agenda Planning Calendar: Review and Comment Mr. Pearson shared the proposed 2022 agenda planning calendar with the Committee.
Council Member Zermeño inquired if the City would be able to receive funds from the State Infrastructure Bill that had recently passed. Director Ameri assured the Committee that staff would look into the item and would work towards receipt of our share of funds.
Public Comment
There were no public comments.
COMMITTEE MEMBER/STAFF ANNOUNCEMENTS AND REFERRALS:
Mr. Pearson announced that the California Air Resources Board (CARB) released a proposal in early October to develop a rule that would require space and water heaters to be zero emissions beginning in 2030. Public meetings will be tentatively scheduled in the spring of 2022 and the rule could be adopted by CARB in the summer of 2022. Additionally, the Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD) proposed a rule that would require ultra-low emissions by gas burning appliances by 2023 and zero emissions by 2029.
Mr. Pearson also stated that on October 9th, Governor Newsom signed AB 1346 which bans gas powered small engines, such as lawn mowers and leaf blowers, and that this would take effect in January 2024.
Council Member Zermeño shared that members of the StopWaste.org Committee, including himself, had toured a compost farm and expressed his enthusiasm about the effects that compost farms were having on decreasing carbon.
ADJOURNMENT: 6:19 p.m.
MEETINGS
Attendance
Present
11/08/21
Meeting
Present
to Date This Fiscal Year
Excused
to Date This Fiscal Year
Absent
to Date This Fiscal Year
Elisa Márquez
✓
2 0
1 Barbara Halliday
✓
3 0
0 Francisco Zermeño
✓
3 0
0